HOW TO CREATE COMMUNITY TESTIMONIALS FOR COVID-19

MITIGATION

DR. JONNY ANDIA

T H E C E N T E R S F O R D I S E A S E C O N T R O L A N D P R E V E N T I O N ( C D C )

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Housekeeping

This session:• Focuses on how to create community testimonials for COVID-19.• Is intended for community leaders, community-based organizations, faith-

based organizations, and other stakeholders who want to implement mitigation strategies to reduce the spread of the disease.

• Does not provide an overview of COVID-19.

For additional questions please contact: Dr. Andia at EFN4@CDC.GOV

Attendees will: Learn seven characteristics of testimonials and key

messages needed to develop effective community stories. Understand how to develop testimonials for COVID-19. Identify available resources, tools, and support services to

assist in developing and distributing testimonials to support County and Wisconsin mitigation strategies to reduce the impact of COVID-19.

Jonny Andia, Ph.D.CDC/Behavioral Scientist

Coronavirus Disease - Basics

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a viral disease that was identified in Wuhan, China, and is now being spread throughout the world

COVID-19 spreads mainly through close contact from person-to-person. Some people without symptoms may be able to spread the virus.

Symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, repeated shaking with chills, headache, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell, or muscle pain. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure

We are still learning about how the virus spreads and the severity of illness it causes.

T h e p o w e r o f s t o r y t e l l i n g a n d r e s i l i e n c e

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.htmlhttps://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/symptoms.html

Community Mitigation Strategies

When a novel virus with pandemic potential emerges, nonpharmaceutical interventions, called community mitigation strategies often are the most readily available strategy to help inform and slow transmission of the virus in the community.

Community mitigation is a set of actions that persons and communities can take to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

Community mitigation is especially important before a vaccine or drug becomes widely available.

Why use testimonials to mitigate COVID-19?

On Saturday April 26, Brown County community leaders and other stakeholders met to discuss effective COVID-19 messages.

The use of community testimonials was proposed to effectively reach out to the community about COVID-19.

Testimonials are powerful community tools to fight COVID-19 since the messages come from the community and go to the community.

Testimonials uses community leaders and organizations to engage social networks in dissemination of information.

Testimonials portray genuine stories from members of the community who made a positive behavior change.

Testimonials capture reality, show movement, and motivate change.

Testimonials and COVID-19 Prevention

• Testimonials are effective tools for health prevention.

• They can help to inform, educate, and demonstrate model behaviors of COVID-19 prevention.

• Testimonials rely in volunteer’s local opinion leaders who serve as “peer networkers” by contacting friends, relatives, co-workers, and neighbors to share and model information.

How people change: Stages of Change Theory

Pre-contemplation

Contemplation

Preparation

Action

Maintenance

Rel

apse

Steps to developing a testimonial

• Through community observations within your network/population

• Identify, recruit, and interview potential person with a positive behaviors coping with COVID-19. Take good notes as well.

• Transcribe the interview, and/or review your notes• Write the story with the specific population in mind• Edit and re-edit• Produce your testimonial

Testimonial Components

1. Characterization or membership

2. Risk factor3. Goal behavior4. Influencing factor5. Stages of change6. Barrier/difficulties 7. Positive outcome

Influencing Factors(macro)

Influencing Factors(micro)

Stigma

Homophobia

Racism

Health Inequality

Gender Inequality

Access

Knowledge

Skills

Attitudes/Beliefs

Perception of Risk

Perception of Severity

Intentions

Self Efficacy

Social Norms

Characterization and membership

Risk factor

Risk Factor: Misconception

Perception of Risk/Knowledge

Social support

Precontemplation Preparation

Goal behaviors

Video Testimonial - Contact Tracing

Developing your Testimonial

Create one testimonial at a time. Craft clear, short, and concise stories (< 400 words). Select simple and motivating artwork (e.g., pictures, cartoons). Decide the platform for dissemination (print, video, radio). Provide an easy to read and appealing layout. Test your testimonials with a few people from your target

population and ask them if it sounds and feels real. One interview can be used to make several stories.

Social Media

Implementing your testimonial program

Best practices to for program implementation: Select a day to launch your program.

Based on your community observation decide which topic/risk factor you want to disseminate first: washing hands? Best practices indicate you start with one topic/risk factor until the conversation reaches a point of saturation or people stop commenting. Then you change to another topic and so on.

Carefully select who your audience is, e.g., Young people? Adults? Men? Women? High School students? Church parishioners? And identify the stories you will share with them.

Identify the venue you want to use to disseminate the stories (e.g., community outreach, church bulletin, community newspaper, organization Facebook, your very own Facebook, local newspaper).

Implementing your testimonial program

Best practices to for program implementation: Create more stories or adapt the stories you will have from the

compendium provided.

Always ask for consent and make sure the individual you interview signs a release form (see supplemental materials).

If you created a story without a direct interview, you can say: “Inspired by a real community story.”

Always provide additional links from reputable sources of information next to the stories: Brown County Health and Human Services website Wisconsin.gov/covid-19 CDC.GOV

Resources

Download training materials and free stories: Website: www.stayhealthybc.com Website: www.browncountyunitedway.org

Free pictures to download and use in your stories: CDC Public Health Image Library UNSPLASH: The internet’s source of freely usable images PEXELS.COM

Reliable information on COVID-19, please use: www.CDC.gov www.stayhealthybc.com www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/

http://www.stayhealthybc.com/http://www.cdc.gov/http://www.stayhealthybc.com/

Acknowledgments

First we would like to recognize the resilience and support of the Brown County Community leaders and organizations that provided the idea to develop this training.

The brave nurses and workers from Brown County Public Health and public health authorities from the state for their hospitality, support and dedication during these difficult times.

To our local mentors at Brown County Public Health: Pamela Waise, Anna Destree and Ann Steinberger for their dedication and support.

To all our CDC colleagues that always supported us in this honorable endeavor: Brad Goodwin and Karen Schlanger.

To my CERT colleagues: Nailah Smith, Magdalena Medrzycki and Rho (Henry) Olaisen for their continue feedback and energy.

Thank you for your community engagement!

Thank you!

For technical assistance questions, please do not hesitate to contact:

Dr. Jonny Andia efn4@cdc.gov

Slide Number 1����HousekeepingSlide Number 3Slide Number 4FACILITATOR�Coronavirus Disease - BasicsCommunity Mitigation StrategiesWhy use testimonials to mitigate COVID-19?Slide Number 9Testimonials and COVID-19 PreventionHow people change: �Stages of Change TheorySteps to developing a testimonialTestimonial ComponentsSlide Number 14Slide Number 15Slide Number 16Slide Number 17Slide Number 18Slide Number 19Slide Number 20Slide Number 21Slide Number 22Video Testimonial - Contact Tracing Developing your TestimonialSocial MediaImplementing your testimonial programImplementing your testimonial programResourcesAcknowledgmentsThank you for your community engagement!Thank you!